Paper Origami Birds
I have been puzzled by this sudden invasion of birds in Bangsar Village II. I was assured that it had nothing to do with Ramadhan. They were everywhere, mainly by the staircases, hanging down from the ceiling. It blended well with their signature boxy lanterns that they had over there for many years.
They were not live birds though - I didn't think they would be able to cope with the droppings! They were paper origami birds. All appeared to be hand-made. A nice touch I thought!
This true story is of a girl, Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing by the United States. She developed leukemia from the radiation and spent her time in a nursing home creating origami (folded paper) cranes in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese saying that one who created a thousand origami cranes would then be granted a wish. Her wish was simply to live. However, she managed to fold only 644 cranes before she became too weak to fold any more, and died shortly after. Her friends and family helped finish her dream by folding the rest of the cranes, which were buried with Sadako. They also built a statue of Sadako holding a giant golden origami crane in Hiroshima Peace Park.
The bomb was dropped over Hiroshima on 6th August 1945. She was 12 when she died, 10 years after the bomb was dropped.